Panel urges that armored brigade be kept in Europe

Report: Slow troops' return

ERIC ROSENBERG, Copyright 2005 Hearst News Service |
May 10, 2005

WASHINGTON - The transfer of U.S. Army troops from Europe and Asia to bases in Texas would be slowed down under a proposal offered Monday by members of a congressional commission.

The commission, composed of six military experts who reviewed Pentagon plans to bring back 70,000 service personnel from overseas bases by 2009, recommended that an Army armored brigade stay in Europe indefinitely.

Army leaders announced last summer that elements of the armored unit — one of two based in Germany — are destined for a Texas base, most likely either Fort Hood or Fort Bliss.

The commission report said the armored unit, which includes about 4,000 troops and Abrams tanks, should remain there until U.S. combat operations in Iraq and support operations in the Balkans wind down.

The report also said the unit should stay put until a replacement weapon system has been installed.

There are currently about 110,000 U.S. troops in Europe. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants to bring many back home to save money while also building smaller bases in Eastern Europe. By contrast, there were more than 300,000 U.S. troops in Western Europe in the early 1980s, during the Cold War.

"We still have some concerns in the Balkans and we still have ongoing operations in the Middle East," said retired Army Lt. Gen. Peter Taylor, a commission member.

Keeping the heavy equipment in Europe, Taylor said, "gives us more credibility and opportunity to retain our credibility with NATO."

Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, downplayed the recommendation. "It's the Pentagon's view that we want to bring these troops home," he said. "We want these troops back sooner rather than later."

The proposal was included as part of the commission's overall recommendation to slow the return of U.S. forces in Europe and Asia. The panel said that the Pentagon needed to better coordinate their withdrawal to ensure that troops and their families have proper housing and services upon return.

"We're saying slow this down, step back, take a breath, let's look at it and determine how we're going to put all these things in place," said James Thomson, president of RAND Corp., and a commission member.

The commission lacks the purview and authority of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the nine-member panel that will issue a report to President Bush this fall on domestic military facilities that should be closed. The BRAC commission will base its list of closures on recommendations due out Friday from the Pentagon.

Congress can't selectively ignore the BRAC recommendations. If the list of closures is not voted down in its entirety, the proposed closures go into effect.